Shuttleless terry loom warp shedding means and method



March 25, 1969 J. D. HARKEY 3,434,504-

SHUTTLELESS TERRY LOOM WARP SHEDDING MEANS AND METHOD Filed Oct. 17, 1967 Sheet of 4 E1 g-M Z l 9 INVENTOR? JOHNNY b. HAEKE-Y ATTORNEYS March 25, 1969 J. D. HARKEY 3,434,504

SHUTTLELESS TERRY LOOM WARP SHEDDING MEANS AND METHOD Filed Oct. 17, 1967 Sheet 2 of 4 INVENIOR. JbHNNY D. HARKEY ATTORNEY$ March 25, 1969 J. D. HARKEY 3,434,504

SHUTTLELESS TERRY LOOM WARP SHEDDING MEANS AND METHOD Filed Oct. 17, 1967 Sheet 3 of 4 INVENTOR. JOHNNY b. HARKEY ATTORNEYS March 25, 1969 J; D. HARKEY 3,434,504

SHUTTLELESS TERRY LOOM WARP smsnnme MEANS AND METHOD Filed Oct. 17, 1967 Sheet 4 of 4 INVENTOR. JOHNNY b. HARKEY ATTORNEYS 3,434,504 SHUTTLELESS TERRY LOOM WARP SHEDDING MEANS AND METHOD Johnny 1). Harkey, Concord, N.C., assignor to Cannon Mills Company, a corporation of North Carolina Filed Oct. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 675,858 Int. Cl. D0311 39/ 22 U.S. Cl. 139-25 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A warp shedding method and means in which an upper sheet of ground warps, which would otherwise remain in upper shed position during the corresponding pick of a shuttleless terry loom, is moved downwardly and then returned to upper shed position during a single pick of the loom so as to shield a corresponding downwardly moving sheet of relatively loose terry warps from the whipping tail of a cut length of filling being inserted in the shed by filling carriers as the sheet of terry warps is moved from upper shed position to lower shed position.

This invention relates to shuttleless looms for weaving terry cloth, and looms which may be of a type known as a Draper Model DS'L loom and equipped with reciprocating filling carriers which insert cut lengths of filling from a stationary source of supply in the warp shed. The invention is particularly concerned with an improved method of and means for shedding warps of such looms in such a manner as to prevent entanglement of the cut lengths of filling with relatively loose or slack terry warps; especially during those picks of the loom in which upper and lower sheets of terry warps reverse open shed positions and the upper and lower sheets of ground warps are to occupy respective upper and lower shed positions preparatory to the next succeeding pick of the loom; i.e., during insertion of the next succeeding cut length of fillmg.

In a shuttleless loom of the aforementioned type, a first one of a pair of reciprocating filling carriers takes filling from a stationary source of supply, carries it into the warp shed about to the center thereof, and transfers the filling to the second filling carrier which draws the filling through the remainder of the shed. Since the filling is in cut lengths, a tail portion thereof extends from and whips about the second filling carrier as the filling passes therethrough in its course to the exit end of the shed remote from the source of supply. The operation of such filling carriers may be substantially as disclosed in Budzyna et al. U.S. Patent No. 2,604,123, issued July 22, 1952.

In non-terry weaving looms of the aforementioned type, although the warp shed closes on the filling at about the same time that the second filling carrier is emerging from the exit end of the shed, the upper warps are under such tension that the filling tail extending from the second carrier simply whips against the upper sheet of warps and generally does not become entangled with the warps. However, following the conversion of this type shuttleless loom so as to weave terry cloth thereon, it was found that frequent ruptures of terry warps occurred causing a substantial increase in the number of loom stoppages. The malfunction of the loom which caused such ruptures of the terry warps could not be ascertained 3,4345% Patented Mar. 25, 1969 simply by observing the loom in operation under the naked eye. However, by utilizing a stroboscopic light to aid in observing the loom in operation, it was found that the whipping filling tail extending from the second filling carrier would become entangled with and/ or wrap around one or more of the terry warps during insertion of some of the first loose picks of filling incident to successive three-pick terry loop forming cycles. Thus, the filling tail would pull the terry warp strand ensnared thereby toward the exit end of the shed and would either break the terry warp strand or cause the same to become entangled with an adjacent terry warp strand or strands, frequently resulting in subsequent parting of one or more of the interentangled terry warps. Also, such sideward pull or displacement of terry warp strands would pull previously formed terry loops out of the cloth being woven.

Reasons why such rupture of terry warps occurred most frequently during insertion of the first loose picks of filling, incident to successive three-pick terry loop forming cycles, are that terry warps are necessarily under relatively loose tension in a loom as compared with the normally tensioned ground warps, and the upper and lower sheets of ground warps normally remain in respective upper and lower open shed positions as the upper and lower sheets of terry warps reverse their open shed positions. Thus, the downwardly moving upper sheet of terry warps was not shielded from the whipping tail by the upper sheet of ground warps. It follows that the downwardly moving upper sheet of terry warps was then exposed to the whipping filling tail.

The loose condition of the terry warps also is more pronounced as the terry warps approach closed or midplane shed position; i.e., as they approach their position of crossing during the shed change, and the whipping of the filling tail is of greatest intensity at the time the terry warps are in the course of movement to closed position, thus further aggravating the problem. It should be noted, however, that in three-pick terry weaving, for example, open shed positions of the upper and lower sheets of ground warps are reversed during insertion of each second loose pick of filling and during insertion of each fast pick of filling so that the aforementioned problem normally does not exist during the second loose pick cycles and the fast pick cycles of the loom, even through the shed positions of the upper and lower terry warp sheets are usually reversed during insertion of each second loose pick.

In attempting to overcome the problem, various adjustments were made from time to time in the upper shed positions of the various sheets of warps and/or in the amount of tension in the terry warps. However, such adjustments were not successful, notwithstanding the necessity of observing practical limitations insofar as variations in the tension of the terry warps was concerned.

Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provide an improved method of and means for shedding the warps of a shuttleless terry loom of the type described which practically eliminates ruptures of terry warps by effectively shielding the upper sheet of terry warps from the whipping tail of filling extending from the second filling carrier during all picks of the loom; especially during those picks in which a shed change in the terry warps occurs without a shed change being required in the ground warps.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a method of and means for shedding the warps wherein, during each of certain downward movements of a relatively loose upper terry warp sheet, a corresponding upper ground warp sheet is moved downwardly, preferably to about the position of crossing of the warps; i.e., at least sufiiciently to shield the upper terry warp sheet from the whipping tail of a cut length of filling being inserted in the shed by filling carriers, so as to prevent entanglement of the whipping tail with strands of the upper terry warp sheet. Although the upper terry warp sheet continues to a lower open shed position, the upper ground warp sheet is caused to return to the upper open shed position before and preparatory to the insertion of an immediately succeeding cut length of filling in the shed by the filling carriers.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURES 14 are schematic vertical sectional views through a portion of a shuttleless terry loom showing the terry and ground warp sheets occupying different successive shed positions effected, according to the invention, during insertion of :a first loose pick of filling incident to a three-pick terry loop forming cycle of the loom;

FIGURES 1A-4A are greatly enlarged schematic vertical sectional views through the terry cloth, illustrating substantially the shed positions occupied by the upper and lower terry and ground warp sheets and the corresponding strand of filling in the respective FIGURES 1-4;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged schematic view through a portion of the prior art shed as formed heretofore, illustrating how the whipping tail of a cut length of filling may become entangled in the upper sheet of terry warps during a shed change;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5, but showing the shed as formed according to the present invention so that the downwardly moving upper sheet of terry warps is shielded by the upper sheet of ground warps from the whipping tail of the cut length of filling;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged detail of a preferred form of harness cam for controlling the heddles or harness for the upper sheet of ground warps according to the present invention, and showing in the shaded area how a conventional harness cam may be modified to impart the peculiar motion of the instant invention to the corresponding harness;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary schematic plan view showing a portion of the lay, reed and cloth as woven on a shuttleless terry loom of the type described and particularly illustrating the first and second filling carriers immediately following the transfer of filling from the first to the second filling carrier; and

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary perspective view looking at the left-hand side of the lower portion of FIGURE 1 and showing all the cams for operating the harnesses of FIGURES 1-4.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the shuttleless loom with which the present invention is associated may be of a type substantially as shown in said US. Patent No. 2,604,123, modified substantially as disclosed in Burgess US. Patent No. 3,240,235, issued March 15, 1966, for example, for weaving terry cloth thereon. Generally, the loom comprises an oscillatable lay 10 which carries a reed 11 shif-table between partial and full beatup positions relative to lay 10 as is usual in weaving terry cloth.

In this regard, reed 11 occupies the partial beat-up position relative to lay 10, as shown in FIGURES 14, whenever a loose pick of filling is to be beaten up at a point spaced a predetermined distance rearwardly from the fell 12 of the cloth C. Reed 11 occupies the full beatup position or full forward position relative to lay 10 whenever a fast pick of filling is to be formed, and in the course of which the reed pushes the fast pick of filling and the corresponding preceding loose picks of filling against the fell of the cloth C, thus bunching up the then abnormally slackened terry warps to form terry loops T on both faces of the cloth C.

The ground warps and terry warps are drawn from suitable separate sources of supply, not shown; usually separate ground and terry warp beams, and are formed into a warp shed by a main shedding means operating in conjunction with the auxiliary shedding means of the present invention, as will be later described. As shown, the shedding means comprises a plurality of heddle frames or harnesses through the heddles of which the tight ground warps and relatively lose terry warps pass and are thus divided into upper and lower warp sheets. The upper and lower terry warp sheets are respectively designated at a, b, and the upper and lower ground warp sheets are respectively designated at c, d. Accordingly, four harnesses 1, 2, 3 and 4, are shown in FIGURES 1-4, through which the respective warp sheets b, a, c extend in their course from the aforementioned sources of supply to the fell 12 of the cloth C being woven. It should be noted that the warp sheets are defined as upper and lower warp sheets for descriptive purposes only, since all the warp sheets are moved between upper and lower open shed positions according to a predetermined pattern as established by harness cams in this instance.

The bottom portions of harnesses '1-4 are connected to respective levers 1316 (FIGURE 9) pivoted on a pivot shaft .17 fixed to the loom frame. Levers 1316 are provided with respective followers 24-26 which are caused to engage respective shed forming harness cams 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a under the influence of springs 27 shown connected to the upper portions of the respective harnesses 1-4. Harness cams 1a, 2a, 4a may be of conventional configuration, but harness cam 3a is especially shaped so as to constitute an element of the preferred embodiment of the auxiliary shedding means of the instant invention.

All the harness cams 1a-4a are keyed or otherwise suitably secured on a rotary harness cam shaft 30 which may be driven by suitable gearing 31 connecting shaft 30 to the main drive shaft 32 of the loom, as is usual. In this instance, since the particular cloth being woven is shown in the form of a three-pick terry cloth in FIGURES 1A- 4A, harness cam shaft 30 is driven to rotate one revolution during every three revolutions of main shaft 32; i.e., harness cam shaft 30 and its cams Ill-4a rotate one com plete revolution in a counterclockwise direction during every three picks in the operation of the loom.

The filling is taken from a stationary filling supply source, not shown, adjacent one end of the warp shed, and is inserted in the warp shed by means of a pair of reciprocating filling carriers 34, 35 (FIGURE 8) shown attached to the proximal ends of respective metal bands or tapes 36, 37 more fully described in said US. Patent No. 2,604,123. As disclosed in the latter patent, the lay I10 oscillates in a predetermined timed relationship to the movement of other parts of the loom for the purpose of beating the filling into the shed and against the fell of the cloth. Also the lay is caused to dwell in its rearmost position throughout about one-third the period of time consumed for a complete cycle of inserting a single pick of filling in the warp shed so that the lay 10 serves as a means for guiding the warp shed and the tapes and filling carriers as the filling is inserted.

In the operation of the filling carriers, the first filling carrier 34 takes a cut length of filling from the supply and carries it into and about to the center of the shed where the first filling carrier 34 transfers the length of filling to the second filling carrier 35. Both filling carriers 34, 35 then retract and, as the second filling carrier moves outwardly, the length of filling passes through the second filling carrier so the free end or tail of the length of filling extending from the second filling carrier shortens progressively. As the second filling carrier 35 withdraws from the exit end of the shed, it releases the length of filling therefrom, leaving a short length of filling projecting outwardly from the corresponding end of the shed. As the filling tail shortens, it whips about above second carrier 35 with progressively increasing intensity.

When the first filling carrier 34 initially enters the warp shed, the warp shed is nearly fully open; i.e., the two upper warp sheets then occupy open upper shed positions and the two lower warp sheets occupy open lower shed positions. At about the time that the second filling carrier 35 reaches the exit end of the shed, the shed is fully closed about to the point of crossing rnidplane of the shed. This is desirable so that the end of the cut length of filling being released from the retracting second filling carrier 35 will be clamped by the particular sheets of warps whose positions are in the course of reversing so as to prevent the filling from snapping back into the shed before the subsequent beat-up stroke of reed 11 is effected. Normally, lay and reed 11 start to move forwardly from back-center position immediately before the warp sheets cross.

As long as the relatively tight upper sheet of ground warps c is among those sheets which are changing shed positions during the insertion of a corresponding cut length of filling in the shed, the whipping of the aforementioned filling tail extending from the second filling carrier normally does not cause a malfunction in the operation of the loom; i.e., the whipping tail of filling normally will not become entangled with the tight upper sheet of ground warps in the course of downward movement thereof to lower shed position. However, in weaving terry cloth, the terry warps are always necessarily under light tension as compared to the normal tension in the ground warps, and there are instances in which the patterning calls for a shed change in the position of the terry warp sheets only while the ground warp sheets normally would remain in their respective open shed positions.

In weaving a three-pick terry cloth, for example, it will be observed in FIGURES 1A4A that the terry warp sheets a, b cross and reverse positions independently of the ground warp sheets 0, d during insertion and beatup of the first loose pick of filling L of each successive terry loop forming cycle. Thus, prior to the present invention, during downward movement of the relatively loose upper terry warp sheet a, as shown in the prior art illustration of FIGURE 5, the upper terry warp sheet a would not be shielded from the whipping tail L of the first loose pick of filling extending from the second filling carrier 35. Consequently, the whipping tail L frequently would become entangled with one or more of the strands in the unshielded upper terry warp sheet a, as shown in FIGURE 5. Thus, the filling tail would pull the terry warp strand ensnared thereby toward the exit end of the shed and would either break the terry warp strand or cause the same to become entangled with an adjacent terry warp strand or strands frequently resulting in subsequent parting of one or more of the interentangled terry warp strands and/or pulling previously formed terry loops out of the cloth.

Generally, there has been no serious problem of entanglement of the whipping filling tail with the terry warps during insertion and beat-up of the second loose pick of filling L and the fast pick of filling F of each terry loop forming cycle because, as shown in FIGURES lA-4A, the ground warp sheets 0, a reverse positions at the same time as the terry warp sheets a, b during insertion and beat-up of the second loose pick of filling L of each successive terry loop forming cycle, and the ground warp sheets c, d reverse positions independently of the terry warp sheets a, b during insertion and beat-up of the fast pick of filling F of each successive terry loop forming cycle.

According to the present invention, the problem of interentanglement of the Whipping filling tail and terry warps is practically eliminated by moving the upper ground warp sheet 0 downwardly a predetermined distance and returning the same to its former upper open shed position during any pick of the loom in which the patterning calls for a reversal in the position of the upper and lower terry warp sheets a, b only, as is the case during the insertion and beat-up of the first loose pick L of each terry loop forming cycle in the weaving of a threepick terry cloth. Thus, even though a reversal in the position of the upper and lower ground warp sheets 0, d does not occur during insertion and beat-up of each first loose pick of filling L the upper terry warp sheet a is shielded substantially from the whipping filling tail L during the corresponding reversal in the shed positions of the upper and lower terry warp sheets a, b, as best shown in FIG- URE 6.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the auxiliary means for imparting the desired motion to the upper ground warp sheet C through its respective harness 3 takes the form of a cam lobe 40 which may be formed integral with harness cam 3:1 as best shown in FIGURE 7, or which may be formed independently of harness cam 3a and may be suitably secured on harness cam shaft 30' or to harness cam 3a, provided that cam lobe 40 is engageable with follower 25 or another follower which will transmit motion from cam lobe 40 to lever 15 and thus to harness 3.

As shown in FIGURE 7, ground warp harness cam 3a includes two angularly spaced low peripheral cam surfaces 41, 42 which slope up to a high peripheral cam surface 43 and which also slope up to the outwardly projecting or relatively high peripheral surface of cam lobe 40 whose apex is spaced angularly about half-way between points 41a, 42a on the low cam surfaces 41, 42 which engage follower 25 substantially as lay 10 occupies its forwardmost or front-center position in the beating up of the respective first and second loose picks of a corresponding terry loop forming cycle. It follows, therefore, that harness 3 and its ground warp sheet c occupy upper open shed position position as shown in FIGURES 1 and 1A at about the time or shortly after lay 10 reaches frontcenter position in beating up each first and second loose pick of filling L L On the other hand, follower 25 is engaged by the portion 43a on the high cam surface 43 of harness cam 3a, so the ground warp sheet 0 occupies lower open shed position, at about the time that the lay 10 reaches front-center position in beating up the fast pick of filling in each terry loop forming cycle. It should be noted that the conventional cam 2a for upper terry warp sheet a is shaped similarly to cam 3a, but is devoid of a lobe corresponding to lobe 40 of cam 3a.

Heretofore, the portion of cam 3a between points 41a, 42a would be of substantially uniform radius generated about the axis of cam 3a. However, the apex of cam lobe 40 in FIGURE 7 is located about midway between points 41a, 42a and, additionally, is located substantially in alignment with the rising surface or plane between the high and low surfaces of the terry warp harness cam 2a. As is usual, all the harness cams 1a4a are so formed that the upper and lower terry warp sheets a, b form a larger shed than, and are thus disposed outwardly of, the respective ground warp sheets c, d when the sheets occupy open shed positions. Accordingly, the apex of cam lobe 40 and its opposed surfaces extending from the apex to cam surfaces 41, 42 are so positioned with respect to the leading rising surface between the low and high surfaces of cam 2a that, during insertion of each first loose pick of filling L the upper sheet of ground warps 0 moves downwardly with and preferably slightly ahead of the upper sheet of terry warps a to shield the same from the whipping filling tail L Thereafter, the apex of cam lobe 40 moves beyond and out of engagement with follower 25 as surface 42 of cam 3a moves into engagement with follower 25, thus returning the upper sheet of ground warps c to the former upper open shed position before insertion of the immediately succeeding cut length of filling in the warp shed. Also, at about the time that ground warp sheet c returns to the upper open shed position as shown in FIGURE 4A, the former lower sheet of terry warps b reaches upper open shed position and the former upper sheet of terry warps a reaches lower open shed position, during which the lower ground warp sheet d remains in lower open shed position. Since cams 1a, 2a, 4a operate harnesses 1, 2, 4 in a conventional manner, further discussion thereof is deemed unnecessary.

In operation of the loom during each first loose pick cycle in accordance with the invention, lay it) occupies the back-center position of FIGURE 1 as filling carriers 34, 35 enter the Open shed with warp sheets a, up and warp sheets b, d down as shown in FIGURES 1 and 1A (or vice versa as the case may be). At about the instant of transfer of the filling from carrier 34 to carrier 35 at about the center of the shed, a shed change is initiated in which upper terry warp sheet a moves downwardly and lower terry warp sheet b moves upwardly. Also, lobe 40 of cam 3a causes upper ground warp sheet c to move downwardly, preferably ahead of terry warp sheet a, to shield sheet a from the whipping filling tail L (FIGURE 6) in the manner heretofore described. Ground warp sheet d remains in lower shed position and the sheets a-d thus occupy substantially the positions of FIGURES 2, 2A and 6 as carrier 34 approaches the exit end of the shed. The sheets a, b, c then close on the carriers 34, 35 and the filling immediately before carriers 34, 35 are retracted out of the shed.

FIGURES 3 and 3A show reed 11 occupying beat-up position with the respective length of filling L spaced at predetermined distance from the fell 12. At this instant terry warp sheets a, b are crossed in back of the respective length of filling and preferably, ground warp sheet c has moved below midplane of the shed.

Thereafter, the apex of lobe 40 moves away from follower 25 so as to permit upper ground warp sheet 0 to return substantially to its former upper open shed position before carriers 34, 35 again enter the shed in effecting insertion of the immediately succeeding cut length of filling. FIGURES 4 and 4A show the lay again occupying back-center position with the Warp sheets c, b occupying upper open shed position and the warp sheets a, a occupying lower open shed position preparatory to the insertion of a second loose pick of filling.

The cam lobe 40 constitutes a preferred embodiment of the auxiliary shed forming means of this invention because of its practical use in conjunction with the existing harness cams and harnesses commonly used on many shuttleless terry looms. It is to be understood, however, that other forms of pattern devices may be modified to operate the warp sheets in the shed in the novel manner described herein without departing from the invention.

The foregoing description has been given as related to standard three-pick terry weaving, but the principles of the invention are applicable, where desired, in weaving other types of terry cloth. For example, in a known form of four-pick terry weave having two loose picks and two fast picks of filling in each loop forming cycle, a reversal in the open shed positions of upper and lower sheets of terry warps occurs independently of the ground warps during insertion and beat-up of the first of the two successive first picks of filling in each loop forming cycle instead of during insertion and beat-up of each first loose pick. Thus, the upper ground warp sheet then would be lowered about to the mid-plane of the shed and then returned to open upper shed position during insertion and beat-up of the first of the two fast picks of filling in such four-pick terry weave.

It should be noted that, since upper terry warp sheet a normally is above upper ground warp sheet 0, these two sheets may move downwardly at about the same speed during insertion of each first loose pick, or sheet 0 may even move downwardly slower than sheet a, or sheet c may start moving downwardly before sheet a starts downward movement. It is preferred, however, that ground warp sheet c moves downwardly faster than terry warp sheet a. In any event the upper ground warp sheet c should reach a position about midplane of the shed before or no later than the upper terry Warp sheet a during insertion of each first loose pick.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a method of producing woven terry cloth in which tight ground warps and relatively loose terry warps passing through a loom are both divided into upper and lower warp sheets forming an open shed through which cut lengths of filling are inserted by first and second reciprocating carriers, and wherein the second carrier receives each successive cut length from the first carrier adjacent the center of the shed and draws it through the remainder of the shed while a tail of the cut length extends from the second carrier and whips about during motion of the second carrier; said method including the steps of moving the upper terry warp sheet downwardly while also moving the upper ground warp sheet downwardly at least sufficiently to shield the upper terry warp sheet from the whipping tail of a cut length of filling being inserted in the shed so as to prevent entanglement of the whipping tail with the relatively loose terry warps of the upper terry warp sheet, continuing downward movement of the upper terry warp sheet to a lower open shed position, and returning the upper ground warp sheet to upper open shed position before an immediately succeeding cut length of filling is inserted in the shed.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the step of moving the upper warp sheet downwardly includes moving the upper ground warp sheet downwardly ahead of the upper terry warp sheet.

3. A method according to claim 1, which includes moving the lower terry warp sheet upwardly to upper shed position during downward movement of the upper terry warp sheet to lower shed position, and wherein the step of moving the upper ground warp sheet downwardly includes moving the same downwardly at least about to the position of crossing of the upper and lower terry warp sheets.

4. The improvement in a shuttleless loom for weaving terry cloth, said loom having reciprocating filling carriers for inserting a cut length of filling in a shed during each pick of the loom while a tail of the cut length of filling extends from and whips about one of the carriers, shedding means for shedding sheets of tight ground warps and sheets of relatively loose terry warps between upper and lower open shed positions in timed relation to reciprocation of said filling carriers in which each closing of the shed occurs substantially during emergence of said one carrier from the shed; the improvement comprising auxiliary shed control means operatively associated with said shedding means for selectively moving one of said sheets of ground warps downwardly from the upper shed position at least sufficiently to shield a downwardly moving terry warp sheet from the whipping tail of a cut length of filling being inserted in the shed so as to prevent engtanglement of the whipping tail with the warps of the latter terry warp sheet in its course to the lower shed position, and said shed control means being operable to return the latter sheet of ground warps to upper shed position before an immediately succeeding cut length of filling is inserted in the shed by said carriers.

5. A structure according to claim 4, in which said shedding means comprises a plurality of harnesses and an individual rotary cam and respective follower means for actuating each harness, there being a separate harness for each sheet of terry warps and for each sheet of ground warps, and each cam including a high dwell surface and a low dwell surface alternately engaging the respective follower means for moving the respective harness between lower and upper open shed positions; said auxiliary shed control means comprising an auxiliary carn surface of different radius than, and positioned between and in fixed relation with, adjacent dwell surfaces of that earn which actuates the harness for said one of said sheets of ground warps, and said auxiliary cam surface being engageable with the follower means of said last-named cam and extending through a lesser angle about the axis of said lastnamed cam than that of the respective adjacent dwell surfaces.

6. A structure according to claim 4, wherein said auxiliary shed control means is operable to move said one of References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,684,364 9/1952 Seckel. 2,580,994 1/ 1952 Budzyna et al. 2,604,123 7/1952 Budzyna et al. 3,026,911 3/1962 Picanol. 3,173,452 3/ 1965 Juillard. 3,240,235 3/ 1966 Burgess.

HENRY S. JAUDON, Primary Examiner. 

